Attachment for coat hangers



May 6, 1941. w. J.'E. MILLS ATTACHMENT FOR COAT HANGERS Fil'ed Aug. 17, 1937 NJE mills Patented May 6, 1941 onrrso STATESI PATENT OFFICE ATTACHMENT Fort COAT HANGERS William James Eyrl Mills, Hollywood, Calif.

Application August 17, 1937, Serial No. 159,564

1 Claim.

This invention relates to the class of garment supports and pertains particularly to improvements in attachments for coat hangers.

The "present invention has for its primary object to provide an improved attachment for a coat hangar which when used in pairs upon such hangers facilitates the suspension therefrom of garments which ordinarily are difficult to retain upon hangers, such, for example, as skirts, trousers, evening gowns, slips, and similar articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide a coat hanger attachment for the above described purpose which is novelly designed so that it may be easily and quickly attached to any single-bar type of coat hanger without altering the construction of the latter and without the use of attaching elements such as screws, nails, or the like.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a coat hanger attachment of the character described which, in addition to being formed so that it may be readily applied to a single-bar coat hanger, is so formed that it may be easily shifted to any desired position thereon and when such position is reached it willbe firmly held in place by the weight of the garment which it supports,

A still further object of the invention is to provide in an attachment of the character de- '1 scribed, a novel construction which causes the attachment to automatically grip the hanger bar upon which it is mounted, when weight is applied to an arm of the hanger such, for example, as the weight of the garment upon the attachment arm, thus causing the attachment to firmly retain its position upon the hanger bar.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not confined to any strict conformity with the showing of the drawing but may be changed or modified so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention as expressed in the appended claim.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a coat hanger showing the attachments embodying the present invention applied thereto,

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view of the under side of the saddle portion and yoke of the device.

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of the device per se. 7

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the numeral I generally designates a coat hanger of the type which consists of a single arcuate bar 2 of wood or metal having attached to the transverse center thereof the shank portion of a suspension hook 3. The device embodying the present invention is designed primarily for mounting upon coat hangers of this type.

The invention comprises the device illustrated upon each end of the Hanger bar and indicated as a whole by the numeral 4, and it is preferably formed of wire material of suitable Weight shaped to form the two relatively long convergent bar members 5 which are joined to prevent their lateral separation by the metal plate 6 I l which is of a length slightly less than that of the 20 bars 5 and which has portions of its sides turned to form engaging sleeves l which partially encircle the bars 5 and thus retain them in fixed position.

At one end of the device the bars 5 are joined together by the substantially U-shaped yoke 8 which is disposed in a plane substantially perpendicular to the bars and which at its lower end is substantially semi-circular as illustrated so that this end may firmly grip the under side of the hanger bar 2 when the device is in use, as will be hereinafter more fully described,

The bars 5 with the connecting plate 6 form a saddle which is designed to position over the top'of the hanger bar and is placed thereon so that the more widely separated ends of the bars 5 will be nearest the hook 3. It will be observed that the yoke 8 is attached to these widely separated ends of the bars.

At the opposite or convergent ends of the bars 5 there is extended therefrom the garment supporting arm which is indicated as a whole by the numeral 9. This arm is made up of continuing portions of the bars 5 which curve downwardly as indicated at l0 into straight leg portions it? toward the under side of the hanger bar and then extend forwardly in oblique relation with the bars 5 and away from the same. These leg portions i0 extend substantially at right angles to the bars 5 with which they are integrally connected and substantially parallel with the sides of the yoke 8. These extended lower portions of the arm 9 are indicated by the numeral l I and as shown they converge at their outer ends and are joined together and are covered by a pad I2 of rubber or other suitable material,

When the device described is put into use, one end of the hanger bar 2 is inserted first through the yoke 8 and extended under the saddle portion of the device and through the opposite end between the downwardly extending side portion Ill, so that the garment engaging end of the arm 9 will be disposed below the adjacent end of the hanger bar. The spacing of the bars 5 is such that when the device is mounted upon the hanger bar in the manner illustrated, the sleeves l, which may be considered as integral portions of the bars, at the convergent ends of the bars 5 will engage the hanger bar 2 at the top edges thereof while the opposite ends of the bars will be spaced slightly outwardly from the hanger bar, thus making it possible to rock the entire device at the forward or convergent ends of the two bar portions 5. Because of the convergent relation of the bars 5 the downturned leg portions I thereof are brought into sufficiently close relation to frictionally engage across the sides of the bar 2 so as to grip the latter and maintain the device against accidental movement With this construction it will be readily apparent that the device can be easily shifted to a desired position upon the hanger bar by raising the arm 9 so that the inner end of the plate 6 will drop onto the top of the hanger bar and thus allow the device to be shifted thereon. It will be understood, of course, that whereas the convergent ends of the bars are sufficiently close together to cause them to engage the top corners of the hanger, bar, the downwardly curved extensions ID are sufficiently widely spaced to allow the stated upward shifting of the arms so as to raise the convergent ends of the bars 5 from contact with the top of the hanger bar.

When the hanger bar has had one of the devices mounted upon each end thereof and the devices have been adjusted to the desired position thereon to receive a garment, the padded ends of the arms 9 of the two devices will be engaged withthe garments and when the weight of the latter is brought to bear upon the arms, the two devices will rock slightly on the hanger bar, fulcruming upon the convergent ends of the bars 5 and thus bring the rounded lower end portion of each of the yokes 8 into wedging engagement; with the lower edge of the hanger bar and thereby firrnly secure the device against accidental movement. It will be readily apparent that a garment such as a dress or a pair of trousers may be easily hung upon the hanger by using the devices described, by engaging the padded ends of the devices within the waist-band portion of the garment and the hanger may then be employed for supporting a coat or other article of similar character. Other garments having shoulder straps may also be easily mounted upon the hanger by the use of this device or they may be supported by engaging the straps over the tops of the saddle plates 6. In order to retain the straps in this position, each of the saddle plates has secured thereto the extra plate 13 which is of tapered form and has down-turned side flanges which slidably engage the outer sides of the flanges l of the plate 6 and the outer end of each of these extra or auxiliary plates 6 is provided with the Lip-turned lips M which serve as a means for preventing garment straps from slipping towards the ends of the hanger bar,

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that a device embodying the present invention may be easily and economically constructed and that its attachment to a single-bar hanger of the character described is easily accomplished, as it is not necessary to use securing elements or modify the form of the hangar bar in any respect.

I claim:

An attachment for a single bar coat hanger, comprising an elongated unit adapted to be positioned upon the bar longitudinally thereof and including two longitudinally extending side portions having a convergent relation toward the outer end of the bar and having a yoke connecting their inner ends and formed to pass around the under side of the bar, the said inner ends of the side portions being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the width of the bar and the convergent ends of the side portions being spaced apart a distance slightly less than the width of the bar whereby said convergent ends will engage the top corners of the bar to fulcrum thereon, the said convergent ends of the side portions extending downwardly and being joined together atthe under side of the bar to form an elongated arm, a plate joining said side portions and spaced at its ends inwardly from the ends of the said side portions, said plate having its longitudinal edges rolled around theside portions, and a second plate having side edge portions turned to form guides which receive the rolled edges of the first plate and having an upwardly extending tongue upon one end, said secend plate being slidably coupled with the first plate.

WILLIAM JAMES EYRL MILLS. 

